I'm getting ready to decorate my dream garage but I need ideas for displaying my oil cans. I'd like to have a wall of cans. I searched the net for the perfect shelf but I can't find it. I saw on a tv show once an invisible snap in type shelf for beer cans... wondering if anyone knows if this exists for oil cans? Thanks in advance for your ideas.

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bjwels..welcome to the BEST site in cyberspace. Although the invisible shelves sound cool..I have never seen them. I would just use cheap wood shelves because by the time you fill it with cool cans...the cans will leave viewers in awe. I have never heard from people..wow..you like cans huh but whats with the ugly wood shelves. If you have enough cans to fill a whole wall..people wont notice the shelves. Just my 2 cents. Anyone else have an opinion? Again ...welcome aboard.

bjwels...HELLO AND WELCOME TO OLD GAS. JUST THOUGHT I'D THROW MY 2 CENTS IN HERE AS WELL....I GUESS THE TYPE OF DISPLAY. SINCE YOU DID SAY GARAGE, YOU DIDN'T MENTION NEW OR OLD CONSTRUCTION. IF NEW...THE DISPLAY POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS....YOU ARE IN CONTROL. IF OLD LIKE I'M WORKING WITH, IT MAKES FOR A CHALLENGE BUT LOOKS RUSTIC. I'M ALWAYS LOOKING FOR OR CREATING A PLACE FOR CANS LARGE AND SMALL. I USE 1x WOOD IN MOST OF MY OWN APPLICATIONS. I GROUP SOME OF MY CANS BY SIZE. OTHERS I JUST STACK AND PILE UPIN A NEAT BUT MONTAGE-LIKE MANNER...NOT GROUPING ANY BRAND OR SIZE IN THE DISPLAY (SEE PIC 1). I USED EXISTING SHELVING IN THE HEAD OR NOSE OF MY GARAGE, AND USED OLD PAINT CAN SHELVES MY GRANDAD MADE YEARS AGO FOR OTHER QUARTSIZE AND SIMILAR CANS (SEE PIC 3). WHEN THE LOCAL BOWLING ALLEY WAS TORN DOWN, THIS NETTED ME ALOT OF WOOD BOARDS WHICH WERE SLOPPILY PAINTED AND WERE RUSTIC. I PUT SOME QUARTS, 5 QUARTS AND 2-GALLONS ON THESE SHELVES (SEE PIC 2).ALWAYS BE SURE TO SECURE AND SHELVES NOT BUILT INTO A WALL SUCH AS BETWEEN STUDS. EXAMPLE....THE SHELF IN PIC 2 WASMADE ON THE SIDE AND THEN FASTENED TO THE WALL JUST IN CASE SOMEONE OR SOMETHING BUMPED INTO IT....IT WAS WOULDN'T FALL AWAY FROM THE WALL AND POSSIBLY DAMAGE SOME OF THE FULL QUARTS IN THE DISPLAY. MY ADVISE IS THE ALLOCATE YOUR SPACE FOR WHATEVER SIZE CANS, BOTTLES, ETC YOU PLAN TO PUT IN THE SECTION AND SO ON. TAKE MEASUREMENTS DRAW PICTURES LIKE A ROUGH BLUEPRINT AND WRITE DOWN YOUR MEASUREMENTS AND ALWAYS MEASURE TWICE AND CUT ONCE!I ONLY KNOW OF 2 OTHER CAN COLLECTORSAND MAYBE THEY WILL CHIME IN AND OFFERSOME RELIEF TO YOUR DREAM GARAGE DISPLAY STRESS!!! SCOTT (QUARTCANS) AND DON (5 QUART).....ANY SUGGESTIONS?

Wow Doc, nice collection! I agree with the above post about the shelf. People are going to notice the cans and not the shelf. Being somewhat new to collecting oil cans and such, I have found a 1x6 piece of lumber works well as a quart can shelf. I have a piece cut to fit the wall and placed it right above the entry door inside my garage. As my collection progresses, I hope the shelf eventually makes it around the perimeter of the garage. I painted the shelf white, and when I have some time, I may paint a small black and white checker board pattern on the exposed face of the shelf. The other thing, if you can do it, would be to display the cans in an original or custom made repo of an old Sel-Oil cabinet or wire rack.

I guess I don't count as a can colletor. Check out quart of the month and see who post. Don has 5 quarts Scott has quarts and I only have about 1500 quarts. I'll post some pictures of what I did and have fun. How many quarts do you have? Want to sell some rare ones. Oh thats right I'm not a collector. Oh by the way a friend of mine has over 10,000 quarts but he isn't on the list. Ted

OOPS, SORRY TED...DIDN'T KNOW OF YOUR INTENSE INVENTORIES...JUST SEEN 'EM HERE AND THERE IN QUART OF THE MONTH, ETC.HEY! IF YOU'VE GOT'EM...FLAUNT'EM!LET'S SEE 'EM AND YOUR DISPLAY SYSTEM(S).....BATTER UP!

HERE'S SOME MORE OF MY HOMEMADE OIL CAN SHELVING....THESE SHELVES MADE WITH 1x LUMBER HOLD MOST OF MY OUTBOARD CANS WHICH I FILLED UP QUICKLY AND OVERFLOWED!

THESE SHALVES ARE THE METAL TYPETHAT ATTACHED TO THE WALL AND ARE ADJUSTABLE. THE TOP SHELF IS A TWO-TIER WITH LARGER CANS UP TOP AND SMALLER CAN ON THE LOWER FRONT. I RECENTLY ADDED THE TWOLOWER SHELVES TO HOLD MY EVER GROWING 2-GALLON CANS...ABOUT 30ARE DISPLAYED HERE.

HERE I HAVE TWO SHELVES ON A WALLOVER MY WORKBENCH IN THE GARAGE. THE UPPER SHELF HAS VAR SIZES AND BRANDS. THE LOWER SHELF HAS 90% MOBIL PRODUCTS. THE SHELVES ARE 6' LONG.

THIS IS A OPEN AIR CABINET THAT WAS ORIGINALLY MADE TO HAVE CLEAR PLEXIGLAS SLIDING DOORS. INSTEADI PUT MORE VAR SIZES AND BRANDSHERE AS A DISPLAY. ALSO STACKINGDOUBLE HIGH SEVERAL QUARTS UNDER THE CABINET ON THE COUNTERTOP.

Welcome bjwels. What I use is 3/4" by 5" wide white boards (any length you want) that I get at Home Depot. I space the shelves 6"'s apart to give the look with no space between the shelves. Here is a sample. [img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4d737b3127cceb6ee1c97a11b0000003610[/img]

Scott "Quart Cans" send me the Minute-man quart oil can when you send me the Wake-up Quart.WOW!!Your display will always be dictated by the space you have I prefer the orginal oil racks, Sel-Oil cabinets to the smaller carry out racks.I have a few Video racks filled with outboard cans easy to adjust and move around.Anyhow the FUN is filling them up!! ..........REXKYSOILMAN

Welcome bjwels and fellow can collector. Nice display Scott !!!! I chose to frame out like a large window and recess into the walls some storage for quart cans. Only the best for my cans oak with trim. The self above house larger cans. The oak selves were made to almost exact height of cans and width made to hold quarts fairly close together. Below is a closer look of one section.Then when you run out of or don't plan for enough quarts. I used parts bins from a dealer that closed down.They are adjustable. I put casters under them to move them around.

Make it nice enough and even a dog likes to view. The dog (Diesel) is for Hubba.

You know . . . . I been thinking about picking up a few quarts. But by the looks of it - there is no way I could just get a few!

I think I'll go with my original plan and only buy quarts from Oilzum, Pennzoil or those with a 'Native American' featured on them. Oh, and I'm filling up a 50's Marvel Mystery Oil rack I got off e-bay with metal quarts and pints. (Anybody got any for sale?)

Great displays guys, I really enjoy seeing how othere display their collectables. I think that the display MAKES the collection. Otherwise, all you have is a bunch of petro clutter that you can't appreciate.